Internal reservation, Cong's poll promises led to BJP's defeat in Karnataka: Party MLAs
Bengaluru(PTI): Along with "internal injury" caused by the internal reservation and people voting for Congress believing in its poll guarantees, a negative narrative setting in against the BJP because of its failure in effectively countering certain issues, led to its defeat in the recent Assembly polls in Karnataka, according to party MLAs.
A meeting of BJP MLAs elected to the 16th Assembly convened by state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel here, also decided to take the achievements of nine years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to every house, and to work towards ensuring a hundred per cent win for the party in all 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
BJP had won 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in 2019.
"Along with introducing 22 legislators who have been elected for the first time, the meeting today tried to instill confidence among the legislators to work as a constructive opposition by extending all necessary cooperation to the new government to serve the people of the state," BJP national general secretary C T Ravi said.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, he said, "If the government indulges in anti-people activities, if it takes decisions that are detrimental to the state with a hidden agenda, it was decided at the meeting to fight against it both inside and outside the legislature."
Former Chief Ministers B S Yediyurappa, Basavaraj Bommai and Sadananda Gowda, national general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh among other senior leaders attended the meeting.
Stating that the meeting also analysed the political situation in the state, the party general secretary said that no ruling party has won a second consecutive term since 1985 in Karnataka.
"There seems to be a natural trend that has set in Karnataka in the last four decades to change the government once in five years, despite that we have won 36 per cent votes, we have got similar vote share we got in 2018, but we lagged behind in gaining seats," he said.
Ravi said, "Along with internal injury caused by the internal reservation and people voting for Congress believing in its guarantees, a negative narrative setting in because of BJP's failure in effectively countering certain issues, led to his party's defeat, was the general opinion expressed in today's meeting."
The BJP will not lose heart with the results and will certainly bounce back as it has done in the past. Our role might have changed from ruling party to opposition, but our commitment towards serving the society has not changed and it will continue to work in that direction, he said.
Regarding who will be the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and also in the Council, Ravi said general secretary Arun Singh is gathering the opinion of the legislators. On the basis of it and in consultation with the party leadership, a decision will be taken at the earliest, he said.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
